Is “The Neighborhood” Making you Fat?
NW– The theory that weight problems could be spread via social networks isn’t new. In 2007, researchers found that people were up to 57 percent more likely to become obese if a friend or family member did the same during a certain period of time. For this study, the team wanted to answer whether living in a community with higher obesity rates increased an individual’s risk of gaining weight. The researchers pulled information from another study analyzing exercise and nutrition among teens living on military bases, choosing to focus on these locations because they tend to be tight-knit communities—the exact type of environment that would lend itself to this kind of social contagion, if it exists.
I know we’ve been through this a couple of times but I think we really GOT EM!
This whole time I’ve told you this neighborhoods trouble! Now finally we have the evidence to back it up!!! All these years it’s been secretly plotting our weight gain, but we got em now! Whoever claims they “ARE” the Neighborhood is getting the boot!!!
Not pointing any fingers…,
So this study added on to a previous one held in 2007, which concluded that the folks you hang around frequently have an influence on your health choices. Its good to have the “official study” to back it up but this is something that we’ve been hearing and ignoring since we were teenagers. Remember, walking out of the house to drink in a open field play video games at Johns, your parents would drill you on who’s gonna be there. And god forbid they hear Casey, the monologue on how he is a bad influence would begin. This is the same EXACT concept, but the variables have changed slightly. Food and Health are the tendencies that are inadvertently being influenced by the people that you spend most of your time with.
Now this study takes it one more step and claims that there is a direct correlation with an individuals health habits and the community they live in. It concluded that people who live (or move to) counties with a higher obesity rate have a higher chance of being obese.
“The study, newly published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that both parents and kids who lived in counties with higher obesity rates were more likely to be obese or overweight. And the longer families lived in these overweight areas, the higher their own risk of weight gain.”
When you break all this down it tends to make quite a lot of sense. There are certain areas across America with limited healthy options to choose from, and many times the ones that are available come with a premium cost. Less optimal choices are cheaper, faster, more accessible and last longer. Everything from an economics standpoint say “Buy Processed”. As a result of being boxed in by unhealthy options, people develop habits of eating poorly and not exercising, it becomes the norm. The norm not just to them but their circle of influence (children, siblings, parents and friends), its comes full circle and only a BIG bump in the road will divert them from their destination of 21st century disease to one of rejuvenated health.
OK, so if the odds are against you, what can you do? First things first, don’t be ashamed with putting your health as a number one priority in your life. It’s literally your most valuable asset, if you don’t have it you don’t have anything. A common(not the only) theme that make people quit pursuing a health goal is the lack of support from their inner circle, to some extent even “health bullying”. Someone else taking “Joking Jabs” at you and your new lifestyle on a consistent basis. Its physiological warfare that can get under the skin of even the strongest willed and confident people. The reasons could be anywhere from jealousy and insecurities to selfishness. Whatever the reason, its critical to remind yourself to “Do You” and worry about your goals. Tunnel Vision! Stay quiet and get to work, let the results speak for themselves.
Remember….Your in the Drivers Seat
